Glenn Danzig: Vocals, sole songwriter
Errie von: Bass, backing vocals
Lyle preslar: guitar (only on four tracks from initium)
Pete "Damien" Marshall: Guitar
Steve zing: Drums
London may: drums
Samhain was a Deathrock band formed by Glenn Danzig in 1983 as The Misfits were in major turmoil and close to disbanding. Danzig originally planned Samhain as a side project, but after the demise of The Misfits in October of 1983, it became his full-time band. Samhain is the lesser known of Glenn Danzig's musical outlets and catalogs the transitional period of his musical career, bridging the gap between the punk thrashing of The Misfits, and the dark, heavy metal sound of Danzig.
Danzig took the name of the band from Samhain, the ancient Celtic New Year, which influenced the modern Halloween. Samhain is pronounced "sow-win" (which is the pronunciation that Danzig uses in songs), although the band name is often pronounced "Sam-Hane" for the sake of simplicity. Both Samhain and its successor Danzig use the same horned skull image (originally from the cover of the 1984 comic book Crystar Crystal Warrior 8, published by Marvel Comics).
Samhain was much darker than the Misfits, with lyrics rooted in the occult and eventually the horrors of reality, as opposed to the sometimes cartoonish ghouls and ghosts of the Misfits. Samhain's musical style was a dark, gritty, and experimental combination of punk, gothic rock, and on the last album, heavy metal.
Samhain released two full-length albums and one EP during their three year career as an active band. Some criticized their first album for being merely the Misfits slowed down, but Samhain demonstrated noticeably superior musicianship. However, as their career progressed, they evolved into their own unique style of lo-fi gothic-doom and gained a cult following that surpassed the modest fanbase The Misfits had while they were active.
As a footnote, Danzig has said that he wrote the songs "Bloodfeast" and "Death Comes Ripping" with the intention of using them on the first Samhain album, but instead recorded them with the Misfits for the Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood album in order to round out that band's final series of recordings and release a full album.
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